Saturday, September 29, 2012

I read
online the other day that the Idaho Humane Society had extended their 9 Lives
for $9 Adoption Fee promotion for another week.That usually means they have too many kitties in need of a home and they
really want to place them.

I have
a soft spot when it comes to kitties.I
just adore them.Last year, at the end
of August, we had to put my son’s cat to sleep when he went into kidney
failure.He was only 8 years old and it
was so sudden and unexpected. It broke
our hearts and we miss him every day. He was such a quirky little dude.

Stella﻿

After a
year of mourning I’ve been feeling the tug to get another kitty.I checked out the lengthy list of available
adoptees on the IHS website and slept on it for a few days.Yesterday we took the plunge.

After
work we headed up there to visit with the kitties.I wanted to get an adult cat, because
everyone seems to want the kittens making the adults harder to place, and I
also wanted a female this time.As we
checked them all out no one seemed to really bond with us.

I like for
my kitties to pick us, rather than for us to pick them.I was about to give up and consider coming back
the next day when this little girl reach out and literally grabbed us.She was in one of the bottom cages and we had
completely overlooked her.

Well,
long story short, she was the one, absolutely perfect for us.Sweet, loveable, adorable, what more could we
ask for?When we got home she
immediately made herself right at home and made friends with my old man Henry.She is pretty mellow and just seems to go
with the flow.

Introducing herself to Henry﻿

I am
glad we decided to add a new member to the family and, of course, leave it to
me to do it in a thrifty way.$9 instead
of their regular $50 adoption fee is quite a bargain.

Friday, September 28, 2012

I think
we have a new favorite jam this year!So
flavorful and delicious, I was pretty impressed.It is also really easy to make.You don’t even need to peel the pears.

Pear Jam

8 cups diced pears

1 cup apple juice or water

1 box pectin

5 cups granulated sugar

2 Tbs. pure vanilla extract

In a large heavy bottom pan place pears
and water.Stir in pectin and bring to a
full boil.Add sugar and return to a
full rolling boil.Boil for one minute
and remove from heat.Skim foam.Stir in vanilla.Ladle into hot sterile jelly jars.Clean jar rims and add sterile lids and
rings.Process in a hot water bath for
10 minutes.Remove to cool.Makes about 10 half pint jars of jam.

I
definitely recommend this one!Wonderful
on biscuits, cornbread and toast.Terrific on pancakes and waffles.This jam won’t last long in our house.

Thursday, September 27, 2012

In my
humble opinion the answer to this question is yes, without a doubt.Why?Well,
because you never know when you might encounter an unexpected expense or
hardship.How much of a stockpile and
what goes into it is strictly up to you.

When I
first started mine it was with the idea that should “worse come to worse” I
would have enough food on hand to feed my family for three months.Now that I have started a new business and
money is tighter I felt it prudent to increase my stockpile and add on an
additional three months supply.I have
worked at it all summer.

I have
a stockpile for peace of mind.A freezer
full of meat, butter and veggies sits in my garage.Flour, onions and potatoes sit in my
refrigerator in the garage.I have four
cases of canned fruit in my bedroom closet.Our pantry is fully stocked with canned and dry goods of all varieties
and I have already purchased the seeds for next year’s garden.

If I am
careful, I can adequately prepare simple, basic, healthy meals for my family
with minimal purchases from the grocery store should I the need arise, and it
may.I would be foolish to think it
might not.You never know what could
happen.

Whether
you are single, a couple or a family a stockpile of basic foods is a good idea:

·Rice

·Dried
beans

·Pasta

·Flour

·Sugar

·Yeast

·Baking
powder

·Canned
fruit & vegetables

·Canned
soup

·Canned
meats – tuna, clams, chicken, etc.

·Canned
or powdered milk

·Root
vegetables – potatoes, onions, carrots, etc.

·Squash

·Frozen
meats

·Frozen
vegetables

·Frozen
cheese

With
these items on hand you can prepare some pretty basic meals.You can add additional items to this list, of
course.Currently I rotate items and use
them to avoid expiration and freezer burn, then replace the items I use.

Monday, September 24, 2012

We
finally got rainfall yesterday.Not just
a burst of rain that only lasts a few minutes but a real rain that soaked
everything so nicely and even seems to have helped clear the air a bit. I am
truly thankful.

It was
a little hard to tell if it was overcast or just the smoke.Plus there wasn’t any rain forecasted.I am glad the weather forecasters were wrong.I hope this helps with the forest fires in
our great state.That combined with the cooler
temperatures should make a difference in getting us closer to putting them out.

One of
my favorite gifts to give at Christmas, or anytime for that matter, is a
pie.Not just the pie but the pie plate
too.

I love
to find a pretty vintage pie plate at a thrift store or yard sale, bake up a
great pie and present it with a beautiful handmade card.I always note in the card that the pie plate
is part of the gift as well so they don't feel like they are expected to return
it.

This
idea works well for any baking dish, really.You could bake up a pan of brownies or bar cookies in a nice 9" X
13" glass baking pan.Even a
lasagna would work.Or how about
presenting a cake or cupcakes on a pretty cake stand?A cast iron skillet filled with cornbread?

Enclosing
the recipe in with the card might be a nice touch as well.The possibilities are endless.What do you think?

Saturday, September 22, 2012

Last
night the girls and I spent our Friday evening canning pears.We did the peaches on Wednesday because they
couldn’t wait.We canned a total of 20
pints of peaches and 18 pints of pears.We lost one jar of peaches when it broke in the canner.I think I over packed it.Dang it!I ran out of pint jars so I stopped canning pears and we will be making
the rest into jam.Not quite enough left
for pear butter but enough for jam.

As a
working mom I have found through trial and error the best way to get things
done is in smaller increments.I can
smaller batches of fruit and I try not to do it all on the same day.Sometimes ripening fruit can ruin the best of
plans but for the most part it works out.

I do
try to plan ahead a little bit.On Wednesday
morning I knew I needed to can those peaches that evening so before I went to
work I loaded the jars and rings into the dishwasher and ran it so they would
be clean and sterile when I got home.I
also set everything out we needed to use to get the job done.As soon as supper was finished we were ready
to rock and roll.

Having
my helpers makes it much less of a task than it used to be.I absolutely love the fact that they can actively
participate and I appreciate their help tremendously.They even help with the clean up
afterward!I’m a lucky Mom!

We all
take turns peeling and slicing fruit, making sugar syrup, filling jars and
putting on the lids and rings.While the
first batch processes in the canner we clean up the majority of the mess.While the rest of the jars process we do
other tasks and put away the air dried dishes.

One batch out, one batch in and one batch waiting.﻿

I wait
until the next morning to remove the rings and wash the jars.I want them to be completely cooled.Once the jars are all dry then I write the
date on the lids and put the fruit away in storage.

The pears after this mornings bubble bath.

Today I
will make up the pear jam and then our canning will be officially complete for
the season.I’ll be able to get all the
canning equipment put away in the garage too.I have to admit I am really looking forward to getting that box of
canning supplies off of the top of the refrigerator.

I still
have tomatoes to preserve but they will be stewed and then bagged and frozen.I will be grating up some zucchini too.

So far
we have canned:

12 pints salsa

10 half-pints rhubarb jam

3 pints bread & butter pickles

20 pints of peaches

18 pints of pears

Plus 10 pints of raspberries in the
freezer

We
still have some pears, peaches, applesauce and zucchini relish leftover from
last year.We’ll use those up first
before we eat this year’s bounty. JWe are not huge fruit eaters so this is
plenty for us.Add the fresh fruit we plan
to buy – bananas, oranges and apples - and we’ll be in great shape.

Friday, September 21, 2012

I’m
done shopping for the month so I thought I’d go ahead and share how I did.

Boy,
did I blow the budget this month by $78.21!And I did it on purpose!I pretty
much do every September as I prepare for winter and get my canning done.My 20 pound purchase of lean ground beef and
the boxes of peaches and pears sent me soaring over my normal budgeted amount.

I don’t
feel bad about it at all, however.As I
reviewed my monthly totals for the year so far I am happy with the
results.My average spent on food each
month sits at $112.00 with my total spent for the year resting at $1007.00.I know that my yearly total so far is easily what
a lot of people spend every month for their groceries.I am so grateful that isn’t my food bill.